LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 5, 2012) In an effort to help reduce the number of unwanted and inconvenient horses being bred in Kentucky, the Kentucky Horse Park is hosting its second Free Gelding Clinic on Saturday, March 10, 2012.

This free clinic is being provided by the Kentucky Horse Park in partnership with the Kentucky Horse Council’s Save Our Horses fund and the American Horse Council’s Unwanted Horse Coalition.

“The threats facing Kentucky’s horses can be overcome when horse owners take their responsibilities seriously and provide good stewardship, and when other good people make up their minds to get involved,” said John Nicholson, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park. “This clinic is a great example of how horse owners can do the right thing for their animals in spite of a challenging economy, with the help of individuals and organizations that are willing to come alongside them with resources and expertise.”

Anna Zinkhon, President of the Kentucky Horse Council, said, “In this difficult economic climate, horse owners realize that breeding horses may be a losing financial proposition unless the sire and dam are of top notch bloodlines.The gelding of these horses may create useful riding horses, and eliminate the production of unwanted foals. We are glad to support the Kentucky Horse Park in this much needed service.”

Applications are currently being accepted for the Free Gelding Clinic. The clinic is open to any horse whose owner who is financially unable to afford the surgery. Castrations will be performed by a veterinarian or a veterinary student under close supervision by a licensed veterinarian. Stallions must be halter broke, in good health, with two descended testicles and be at least four months of age, with current Coggins and health certificate. A $20 registration processing fee will be charged to help offset some of the expenses.

Nicholson concluded, “Sir Winston Churchill once said, ‘We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.’ Horses provide a living for tens of thousands of Kentuckians, so we want to repay some of that debt by giving something back that will improve their lives. These surgeries will help them become more trainable and lower the number of unwanted horses being born.”

The Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm/theme park and equine competition facility dedicated to man's relationship with the horse. The park is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet that hosted more than one million visitors and campers, as well as 15,000 competition horses in more than 100 special events and horse shows in 2010. The park is home to the National Horse Center which comprises more than 30 national and regional equine organizations. Located at Exit 120, Interstate 75, just north of Lexington, the Kentucky Horse Park is The place to get close to horses.